For Brian Sell, Pressure Comes from Within

For many runners, self-imposed goals can often prove to be their downfall, as the added pressure causes them to choke on the day of the big race. But for Brian Sell, it’s been his ticket to running success.

“Brian’s always put pressure on himself—that if he doesn’t run well he’s retiring from the sport,” says his Hansons Brooks Distance Project teammate and training partner Clint Verran. “For most people that’s a recipe for disaster, but it just seems to drive Brian more.”

The mental strategy has driven Sell to several national championships on the road, and two years ago, to his ultimate goal, a place on the Olympic marathon team. But in Beijing, that drive seemed to elude him, and he finished 22nd, his lowest placing in a marathon in his second slowest time, 2:16:07. “I was about three minutes and five places behind my goal,” he says. “It’s been a rough year since the Olympic trials. I had a little hiccup at the Olympics, so I want to bounce back from that.”

In his buildup for Monday, the omens for a good race have been favorable. “I ran almost the same time at [the] Houston [Half Marathon] as I did in 2006, and our 2 x 6 mile and simulator workout [a Hanson staple run at race pace over 26.2K] was only a little slower. So I’m thinking 2:10, if it’s a good day something in the 2:09s. A lot depends on the weather—if we have a headwind, the times will be slower, but it might help me pick off guys who went through the half in 1:02.”

Three years ago, Sell followed the patient, come-from-behind strategy that has served him well in most of his marathons, passing Alan Culpepper on Boylston Street to take fourth. “In 2006, I was attacking the hills and didn’t really notice they were there,” he says. “I just hope that I’m feeling good this time at 16 to 20 miles. Mentally, it’s important to try to advance at that point in the race, to run 5-flat those last 6 miles. If guys are off the wagon at that point running 5:30s, you can make up the 3 minutes they had on you at halfway.”

Sell has always been among the hardest training U.S. elites, and he credits the group dynamic fostered by the Hansons, which emulates that of groups like the Greater Boston Track Club from the glory days of American distance running in the ’70s, with pushing him to that success. “I kind of miss Clint [who’s been laid up with an injury] who used to go out and make me chase him on workouts,” says Sell. “This time I’m kind of getting pushed from behind.”

At least five of those teammates will be joining Sell on the starting line in Hopkinton on Monday, and he thinks all of them are primed for strong showings as well. “Todd Snyder is in great shape—if he doesn’t set a huge PR, in the 2:11-2:14 range, I’ll be shocked. Luke [Humphrey] is hitting workouts better than 2006; he’s ready to roll. Pat Rizzo got hit by a car a few weeks before the race last year and ran 2:24, he should be sub-2:20, and Kyle [O’Brien] and Fred [Joslyn] are doing better workouts than in the past.” That presages a possible repeat of three years ago, when the team placed seven runners in the top 22.

But while fans along the route will be cheering all six of the yellow-and-red-clad runners, the main focus will be on Sell, who’s engendered such devotion among rank-and-file runners that they’ll stand along the course with his name painted on their bare chests, NFL-style. That kind of encouragement, coupled with his own drive and expectations, is a potent recipe for the kind of success that he’s enjoyed in nearly all of his marathons, and could well result in another Boylston Street surprise come Monday.